CAMERON UNIVERSITY
AggieAccess Group Studio Policy
Policy Statement
A set of standards for use of Group Studio in the AggieAccess portal.
Contents
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Who should know this Policy?
Responsibilities
Procedure
Contacts
Forms
Policy History
Who Should Know This Policy
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President
Vice Presidents
Deans
Department Chairs
Directors
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Faculty
Students
Other Groups
All Employees
Responsibilities
Responsible for Policy
University Officer Responsible
Keith Mitchell
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Senior Director of Public Affairs
Procedure
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE:
The Group Studio application gives students, faculty, and staff at Cameron University (CU) the ability
to create and manage group homepages for clubs, workgroups, committees or other affiliations and
interests.
In the University community, the potential for large numbers and diverse groups exists; therefore,
some procedure and policies are needed to keep the system organized and operating effectively. It is
also important to assert and convey to participants and leaders of their rights and responsibilities.
Summary of Group Studio Features:
A group requestor can choose which of the following features to include for the group’s homepage.
The group leader(s) will have the ability to turn on/off any of the features after being approved.
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Calendar: Lets you access and add entries to a calendar dedicated to your group.
Chat Room: Lets you enter the group’s chat room where you can participate in real time online
discussions with other members of the group.
Message Board: Lets you enter the message board for the group where you can read and post
messages and replies on topics of interest.
Announcements: Allows the group’s leader(s) to send brief announcements to group members.
These announcements appear both on the group’s homepage and in the user’s Personal
Announcements channel.
Photo Album: Lets you view all of the photos that have been posted by the group members, and
lets you submit photos for potential posting.
Links: Lets you view all the links that have been posted by the group, and lets you submit links
for potential posting.
News: Lets you read all articles that have been written and posted by other group members, and
submit articles for potential posting.
Member List: Lets you view a list of other group members and information about each, including
any homepages the member might have. You also have ability to post your own homepage link.
Files: Allows you to download files that have been posted by the group leader(s) other members.
Email: Lets you send e-mail messages to group members.
Summary of the Types of Groups:
The Group Studio application supports four types of groups:
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Public Groups: Public group homepages are open to anyone and are meant to bring people
together who have shared interests or to introduce others to new interests. All public groups are
visible in the Groups Index.
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Restricted Groups: Membership in restricted groups is subject to certain conditions or
requirements. All restricted groups are visible in the Groups Index. Interested members of
restricted groups need to request access to the group from the group leader(s).
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Hidden Groups: Hidden Groups are typically used to publish and discuss sensitive information
that should not be available to a public or restricted group. Users cannot join hidden groups online
and must be invited by that group’s leader. Hidden Groups must be approved by the AggieAccess
Administration Committee before becoming active.
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Admin Blocked: CU policy is to not allow the formation of admin blocked groups.
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Approval Criteria
The group must be composed of students, faculty, or staff of CU.
Groups must not promote or support activities that are illegal, commercial in nature (unless associated
with the University), or that violate the rights of others.
Student Groups: may be created by official student organizations registered with the Office of
Student Activities. For more information about how to register a student organization, contact the
Office of Student Activities at 580-581-2217.
Pending student organizations will be granted a four month grace period to activate a group while
pending approval as a registered student organization. Pending student organizations must indicate
they are waiting approval in the request comments. After the four month grace period, the Group
Administer will review the status of the group with the Office of Student Activities.
Students and faculty/staff advisors may request for the formation of a group studio homepage.
University Groups: may be created for general interest groups by faculty or staff as well as work
groups and committees for the purpose of facilitating official University information and/or work on
specific projects defined by the University.
To submit a request for creation of a group, log in to AggieAccess and click on the ‘Groups’
application icon, then click on the ‘Create Group’ button to access the Create New Group. The request
must be made by the person who will serve as the group leader. Once the request is submitted you will
be notified within 5-7 business days of the status of your request.
Restricted Groups: There is a text field for “Criteria for restricted access” that the requestor must fill
out to explain why they want a restricted group. Note: Keep in mind any user can see the explanation
when a user makes a request to become a member of the restricted group.
Membership: Groups may consist of any persons with an AggieAccess login. Group members agree
to share their names, usernames and e-mail addresses with other members of their groups(s).
If a group leader(s) requests to have people be automatically added to the group without the person
requesting to be added to the groups, the request must be submitted to the Group Studio Administrator.
The Group Studio Administrator has the authority to either approve the request and/or present to the
AggieAccess Administration Committee for recommendation. The group leader(s) will need to submit
an explanation for requesting to add people along with their request to the Group Studio Administrator.
Group Leader: Each group will be required to identify a group leader(s). The group leader(s) is
responsible for the administration of the group and conformity to University policy. This includes
regular monitoring of group content, membership management, removal of aged content and other
maintenance. Group leaders are also responsible for transferring group leadership to another individual
and for notifying the Group Studio Administrator if they will no longer be serving in that capacity. The
organization faculty/staff advisor, on file with the Office of Student Activities, will be automatically
added as a group leader by the Group Studio Administrator upon approval of group.
Appropriate Use: Group members must not use University resources for commercial or illegal
activities (including distribution of material in violation of license or copyright), or activities that
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violate the rights of others. The Group Studio Administrator has the ability to monitor group sites for
appropriate use.
Activity: Any group that has no activity for one calendar year period will be notified by the Group
Studio Administrator of the possibility of becoming inactive (no longer visible in the Group Index). If
the group still has no activity for one-month, the group will become inactive. The Group Studio
Administrator has the ability to monitor group sites for activity.
Procedure: The Group Studio Administrator or designee will approve requests for groups. Requests
for group creation will be approved unless they appear to violate guidelines for appropriate use or
consume an inordinate share of resources that would undermine normal functioning of services.
The Group Studio Administrator is responsible for timely approval or denial of group requests; he/she
may delete groups in cases of abuse or violation of University rules and procedures. He/she will
provide to group members the reason for denial or deletion of their group.
The Group Studio Administrator will take any creation requests which fall outside of the normal
approval parameters to the PAG. The PAG will then decide the appropriate approval/denial of the
requesting group.
Changes: The group leader(s) may request changes in group settings (description, category, public vs.
restricted, etc.) to the Group Studio Administrator. If the Group Studio Administrator feels that the
requested changes significantly alter the group, he/she may present the changes to the PAG for
recommendation.
Naming: A Student Organization’s group name will be the organization’s name that is approved and
on file in the office of Student Activities. Academic Schools/Departments and Administrative
Departments group names should begin with the department name followed by any sub-categorization.
Examples: "English Department - Committee to Promote Student Writing" or "Information
Technology Services - Help Desk Support" University Committee groups shall be named their
officially recognized committee name. Abbreviation will be allowed on case by case basis to be
determined by Group Studio Administrator.
Categories of Groups:
Groups will be listed under one of the following group categories:
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Academic Schools and Departments:
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Student Organizations: those groups who are officially recognized or pending approval by CU as
a student organization.
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Administrative Departments: those groups who fall under the administrative departments.
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University Committees: those groups who serve as committees for the purpose of facilitating
official University information and/or work on specific projects defined by the University.
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Other: those groups who do not clearly fit into an above group category and that creation are for
temporary and/or special purposes.
The Group Studio Administrator will monitor usage and volume of groups in each category. If the
Group Studio Administrator deems it necessary to create more levels of granularity (sub categories),
he/she will take the request to the PAG for approval of the additional levels.
Group Studio Administrator
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The Group Studio Administrator is an individual who has been granted access to the Group Studio
menu, which includes the following:
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Application Availability
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Manage Categories
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Group Request Queue
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Manage Groups
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Groups Policy
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Membership Policy
The Group Studio Administrator fills in the boxes and sends the approval or denial message in the
Group Request Queue. Approval messages are optional; however, when a request has been denied the
Group Studio Administrator must provide the reason for denial. When a request is denied, the online
application disappears; therefore, the Group Studio Administrator, depending on the reason for denial,
should consider contacting the applicants in order to make changes to their request so that it may be
approved.
Cameron University AggieAccess Policies for Groups and Group Members
The following Groups Policy and Membership Policy are listed in Group Studio and members need to
agree to both before joining a group:
Groups Policy:
Public groups that are of general interest to students and faculty will be approved in accordance to the
Cameron University Guidelines for Group Studio. These groups must not promote activities that are
illegal or that violate the rights of others. Restricted groups may be created only if they are associated
with a sanctioned group or if the group leader has obtained permission from the Group Studio
Administrator and/or the Portal Administrative Group. Violation of these and Cameron University
internet policies will result in appropriate action by the Group Studio Administrator and/or removal of
the group site.
Membership Policy:
Group members should conduct themselves in a professional and respectful manner when publishing
content on the group web site. Members agree not to publish content that is illegal or offensive to other
group members and agree to share their user names and e-mail addresses with other members of this
group. In order to comply with FERPA Regulations, student ID’s cannot be displayed on any content
found within Group Studio. Members may not use group web sites for the publication or distribution of
copyrighted materials or licensed software. Violation of these and Cameron University internet
policies will result in appropriate action by the Group Studio Administrator up to and including
removal from the group.
Contacts
Policy Questions:
Keith Mitchell, Senior Director of Public Affairs, 580-581-2211
Forms
In support of this policy, the following forms are included:
None
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Policy History
Policy
Issue Date:
Reviewed, no revision:
Revised:
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January 2010
February 2016